Mobile phone dealer Jaswant Raykanda from Sutton Coldfield has been ordered to repay £3.8 million in VAT if he wants to avoid a 7½ year jail term. He was sentenced to 4½ years in 2006 but will return to prison for a longer sentence if he doesn't pay back his part of a £54 million ‘missing trader’ VAT fraud involving mobile phones.
Investigations by HM Revenue & Customs began in 2000, resulting in two trials that saw eight people sentenced for a total of 40 years in 2006/2007.
Jaswant Raykanda must pay nearly £1.6 million by 1st April and the remainder by 1st October 2010 or return to prison.